The Durango Independent Film Festival: An insider’s guide

You’ve read all the previews in the papers, looked at the Durango Independent Film Festival’s (DIFF) schedule and even done some Googling on your own in an attempt to research this year’s film lineup and figure out what to see and do.
Now what?
Chances are, you’re still a bit bewildered by all the goings-on at DIFF and even though the March 4 kick-off date is just days away, you still don’t know exactly how to approach the thing. DIFF runs March 4 through March 8 at The Abbey and The Gaslight Theatres with plenty of parties and panels happening around town. Here’s an insider’s guide to how to fit in the important stuff:
For starters: Set this Wednesday night aside and show up to The Abbey or The Gaslight early (around 5:15 p.m.) to make sure you score a seat. All the movies are free DIFF’s Opening Night, so this is your chance to scope things out and see what kind of pass or tickets you may want to purchase for the rest of the festival. Passes are transferable this year, so if you know you and your friends or family members are planning on attending multiple screenings, everyone should chip in for a pass and share it through the rest of the week (the 10-punch pass is just $85, while individual tickets are up this year to $10 a pop).
Insider tip: Nothing can beat seeing free movies like seeing free movies with a beer buzz. Head to your local liquor store and pick up a bottle of Ska Brewing Company’s special DIFF Beer before you hit the theaters. You can’t miss it—it’s the Belgian-style beer with a label that looks uncannily like Homer Simpson’s beloved Duff Beer. No drinking and driving or even drinking more than one for that matter—the stuff’s pretty strong!
The must-see movies: According to Joanie Fraughton, DIFF festival director, the Adventure Sports Program sells out every year. If you, like hundreds of your fellow fleece and hiking-boot-wearing Durangotangs, dig films about the great outdoors, either buy the official DIFF Pass (which gets you first-serve seating at all the films) or show up early (around 2:30 p.m. Saturday March 7 or 8:30 p.m. Sunday, March 8) and be ready to wait in line. The films in this year’s Adventure Sports Program include the locally produced Continuum, an extreme-ski doc, and Life as Movie, a doc that manages to cram in footage from almost every extreme sport in existence.
For the documentary-loving crowd, DIFF has included some fantastic must-see films ranging from heart-wrenchingly intense (An Unlikely Weapon, the story of Eddie Adams’ famous Vietnam War photo of a Vietcong guerilla being shot point blank in the head) to downright hilarious (Courting Condi, a comedic mockumentary about a dude who claims he’s in love with Condoleeza Rice).
If features are your thing, make it a point to see DIFF’s two most buzz-worthy films, Chronic Town, a well-produced and beautifully shot coming-of-age film about a lonely taxi drive in Alaska, and How to Be, a story about a musician whose personal struggles are shared by everyone around him. According to Fraughton, thanks largely to the film’s star, Robert Pattison of Twilight teen-craze fame, How to Be is the most popular film in the fest.
And be sure to schedule at least one short-film program into your film-watching plans. This year’s Foreign Influenced Shorts, Experimental & Animation Shorts, Angst Shorts and Sex, Death & God Shorts programs are provocatively named for a reason.
Insider tip No. 1: There isn’t a family program this year, but the best film for the kids is the screening of the feature-length animation The Magistical, which opens with the short animation Aston’s Stones at 3:15 p.m. Sunday, March 8.
Insider tip No. 2: On the DIFF website, www.durangofilm.org, you can create your own film-watching schedule via their fancy online system, which is new this year and was designed by b-side.com, a film-centric web company that knows a thing or two about designing good interactive online film-festival schedules. If you create an account on the DIFF site, you can rate and review the films after you see them, which will come in handy when DIFF organizers decide which films they’ll rescreen in the three to-be-announced slots on this year’s schedule.
Insider tip No. 3: If you don’t make it into the Sports Adventure Program this year, make sure to see the documentary Pirate for the Sea instead. The film follows the radical environmentalist Paul Watson around and will most likely strike your fancy if you’re into the outdoors. Pirate for the Sea shows at noon Thursday, March 5, and 6 p.m. Saturday, March 7.
Party time: The films are the main event, but that doesn’t mean this year’s DIFF parties and panels are to be forgotten. The Film Arts gallery walk from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, March 5, will take participants to all of the city’s hot art spots including the Durango Arts Center, where there’ll be a group show of local women artists’ works, Open Shutter Gallery, where Native American photographs by Edward S. Curtis will be on view, and many more.
The big blowout, though, will be the Filmmakers’ Party, which is open to the 21-and-up crowd. This year’s film soiree was moved to a bigger venue, the Henry Strater Theatre, and the hours have been extended, so the partying will last from 5 to 9 p.m.
The Celebrate Outdoor Experience party at Backcountry Experience, 1205 Camino del Rio, promises to be a pretty sweet get-together, too. That one’s happening from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday, March 7.
Insider tip: The panels and workshops at this year’s DIFF aren’t as enticing as the parties, but if you’re a filmmaker yourself or just interested in independent filmmaking, don’t miss the free “Film Distribution” panel with Mike Katchman of Rivercoast Films and Justin Hunt, director of American Meth, at 3 p.m. Saturday, March 7, at Jean-Pierre Bakery & Wine Bar, 601 Main Ave. in Durango.
Still need more? Visit www.durangofilm.org.